North Central
The North Central Section includes the following Texas counties: Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Fannin, Freestone, Grayson, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Navarro, and Rockwall.
Your North Central Texas Section of APA board believes in APA’s mission of creating great communities. Most importantly we are here to serve our members and provide opportunities to elevate and unite a diverse planning profession.
Have a great idea for a program or want to get more involved? Do not hesitate to click below to send us an email.
Officers
| Director | Chelsey Smith, AICP | Burns & McDonnell |
|---|---|---|
| Director-Elect | Vivian Fung, AICP | Olsson Studio |
| Secretary | Michelle Queen, AICP | Olsson Studio |
| Treasurer | Ruoyu Liu | CDM Smith |
| Past Director | Staron Faucher, AICP | WSP |
| Communications Chair | Katherine Linares, CNU-A | Verundity |
| Professional Development Officer | Kim Dresdner, AICP | Gensler |
| Networking Coordinator | Dani Raschel Mathews, AICP | Evolving Texas |
| Forcus North Texas Chair | Brooks Wilson, AICP | |
| Emerging Planning Leaders Representative | Mike Grace, AICP | Metro Development Consulting |
| Student Representative | Juan Carlos Pina Espinosa | UTA |
| Student Representative | Kalvin Eddleman | UNT |
Get Involved: Join a Subcommittee
APATX North Central Section is looking for subcommittee volunteers and are immediately looking for people for the following roles :
- organize and staff networking and professional development activities
- make connections and engage planning students
- assist our communications director with developing materials, website updates and social media posts
- welcome new members to the section
We encourage section members from all backgrounds to participate - email apatx.northcentral@gmail.com and let us know how you want to help!
Upcoming Events
Board Meetings and Stay in Touch
The North Central Texas Section Boards meets via Teams every month. Contact the section Secretary if you’d like to attend the next section Board Meeting.
Want to subscribe to the APATX North Central Section newsletter, where we bring you the news you need to know? Make sure you update your contact information on the APA website under “MyAPA”.
Be sure to check out our socials for more ways to see what the section is up to and stay in touch.
Planning the Plan: Introduction to the Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Framework
Join us for a live virtual lunch and learn on 4/24/2024 from Noon-1:00PM
Course #9287703 – 1 CM Credit/1 Sustainability & Resilience CM Credit
Course Overview
The session introduces the Envision(TM) Sustainable Infrastructure Framework (Envision(TM)), published by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. Envision(TM) is a tool that guides project and community scale planning and design work to enhance social, environmental, and economic outcomes and to enhance resilience.
Envision(TM) sets the standard for what constitutes sustainable infrastructure; it incentivizes higher performance goals beyond minimum requirements; it gives recognition to projects that make significant contributions to sustainability and resilience; and it provides a common language for collaboration and clear communication both internally and externally.
Envision(TM) includes 59 core credits in five categories including Quality of Life, Leadership, Resource Allocation, Natural World, and Climate and Resilience. The 59 credits provide guidance on how to enhance human wellbeing, address social justice and equity concerns, improve mobility, foster community development, increase collaboration, implement planning objectives, improve project area economic performance, reduce materials use, reduce energy use, reduce water use, improve sitting decisions, conserve habit, enhance ecosystems services, reduce emissions, and improve resilience.
The session will define sustainability and resilience; describe the contents of the Envision framework; explain how the framework can be used in planning and design to enhance triple bottom line outcomes; describe the optional project verification process; highlight Envision(TM)’s use in Texas; present a short video; and outline next steps.
Speaker Information: Michael Bloom
In the 1990s, Michael helped to investigate and restore environmentally impacted sites and manage industrial and municipal wastewater. In the 2000's he helped manage stormwater pollution and restore surface water quality using Clean Water Act programs and green infrastructure. Since about 2010 he's planned and designed resilient public infrastructure facilities, and assisted communities deliver projects with enhanced economic, social, and environmental (triple bottom line) project outcomes.
He's an expert in the Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Framework (Envision), which is a roadmap for enhancing triple bottom line outcomes for public infrastructure projects. He obtained his Envision Sustainability Professional credential in 2013. In 2016, the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) retained him to verify Envision projects. In 2019 he became an Envision Trainer. In 2022 ISI appointed him to their Envision Review Board.
He is a registered professional engineer in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas. He recently became a Certified Planner, by the American Institute of Certified Planners.
He works as a member of the West Houston Association’s Sustainable Infrastructure Committee, chairs the Government Affairs Committee of the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and serves on the ASCE Committee on Sustainability.
Click here to register for the sustainability Lunch and Learn
Click here to see information about past events and notifications